Will Andrews( H, 25-) finds that all the world’ s a pretty damn good stage
The Wykehamist
The Tempest
Will Andrews( H, 25-) finds that all the world’ s a pretty damn good stage
The Tempest( 1610), by William Shakespeare Prospera Eva Crouch Miranda Max Franzese Ariel Alfie Downey, Theo Dunfield-Prayero,
Harry Tang Caliban Toby Burrell Ferdinand George Sinclair Trinculo Xander Sharrocks Stephano Matteo Lombardo Whole school play, QEII, 12-14 February
The Tempest has taken QEII and audiences by storm. KF, Head of Drama, brought a unique vision to what many call Shakespeare’ s last play; here, a gender-bent Prospera takes on the role of the playwright themself. With the island portrayed as a derelict theatre, she directs flailing puppets on her stage of comedy and terror, casting spells with the power of stagehands cloaked in black. Scribbled annotations in the programme hint at this, for instance, pointing out the swapping out of‘ logs’ for‘ sandbags’, or the‘ old curtains and visible ropes’ decorating the stage. Indeed, Arun Sharma’ s( Coll:, 21-) Alonso and Jonty Spry’ s( K, 24-) Adrian, dressed UTB, look as if they had been whisked straight out of Flint Court into Prospera’ s play rehearsal-gone-wrong. On its own, the conceit seems almost frustratingly plain, with the potential of turning a swashbuckling fantasy into an absurdist meditation; yet, from the tumultuous roar of the very opening shipwreck scene, accompanied by a feral smoke machine and Caspar Jack’ s( F, 23-) bellowing, it was clear that this would be a very thrilling ride indeed.
Each night’ s performance was met with thunderous applause, and what performances they were. The atmosphere in the theatre perfectly simulated a great storm, thanks to the crashing thunder sheets and the ensemble creating the wind in the sails of the ship. Stephano and Trinculo, played by our favourite double act of Matteo Lombardo( Coll:, 22-) and Xander Sharrocks( Coll:, 22-), displayed the greed of human nature and the folly of ambitious mankind alongside some hilarious moments of physical comedy; Toby Burrell’ s( H, 22-) unhinged and monstrous Caliban, whose powerful speeches both horrified and moved the audience, drew us simultaneously to sympathy and disgust; George Sinclair’ s( Coll:, 24-) Ferdinand, lovesick for Max Franzese’ s( F, 24-) timid but composed Miranda, powerfully conveyed to the audience his sentimental love without ever falling into the sappy.
Meanwhile, the band of Neapolitan nobles, including the scheming brothers Cassian Hoare( K, 22-) and Freddie Spearing( I, 21-), provided us with many moments of delicious tension despite their plotline being heavily cut down for time. To fully immerse the audience in the fantastical world of the island, the chorus stood in, as the programme helpfully points out, for‘ winds, shapes,
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